Flagship Google tablet tipped for June release

Asustek device to heat up the competition

Google's flagship tablet, tipped to be developed with Asustek, is rumoured to arrive as early as July.

The first shipments, set for June, are expected to reach roughly 600,000 units, according to Digitimes. The rumour mill is suggesting that the market will see it officially released in July, according to the Taiwanese paper's sources in the upstream supply chain. Asustek won't comment.

Google, according to the source, originally wanted to release the 7-inch tablet in May, but it had some trouble with its design and the costs didn't fit the original brief. It could ship as many as 2.5 million units throughout 2012.

Amazon has impressed in the small tablet game, but with competition from Samsung and Acer on the way, Google could have a fight on its hands.

Apple's late CEO Steve Jobs famously said that a small tablet is inherently doomed, and that size is a major factor in winning over the consumer. They would be "too big to compete with a smartphone and too small to compete with the iPad". Despite this, rumours persist that as the competition focuses on the smaller form factor, Apple has been considering making a 7-inch tablet.